Ags

I found a video online showing where the little collimation screws are hidden so I a bit of progress.

I suspect my Skymaster 12x60 LER FOV 5.3° binocular is miscollimated. Does anyone know a guide to collimating them? Also how can I prove the binoculars are out of collimation?

Many thanks, will try this tonight!

I have a little experience of buying optics for kids, including experience of them not being bothered! But I think a small newtonian beats binoculars for a couple reasons. For similar money you get more aperture, but crucially the telescope is teachable. The adult can point it at something and show the youngster. With binoculars you are on your own. The scope also offers more steady views, which is like adding an inch or two of aperture and of course permits higher powers. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-heritage-76-mini-dobsonian.html At the risk of being controversial, telescopes are easier to use. I struggle lining one eye with an eyepiece, why double the trouble? 🤣

I (and probably a million other people) have been invited to join the Amazon Hardback Beta program, so I have added hardback as an option for the double stars book on Amazon. There are no changed to the internals, still the same coverage of 300 doubles. I have also made the new expanded version available as paperback and coil-bound. THe book is much bigger and printing costs are up accordingly... More details and the free PDF available below: Discovering Double Stars

I admired the bright Moon through some thin clouds tonight. I tried to show my dog, but he seems to lack scientific curiosity or any inclination to honor his wolf heritage with a howl or two.

Would have been a good idea to use a green filter, just like you would with an ST80. Maybe they did that. Live views on my C6 look better, I must say.

I remember when I started out I did not join or post on SGL until after I had bought a telescope. I didn't feel like an authentic hobbyist until I got some proper glass. Which is a silly delusion, but I think I'm not the only one to have suffered from this feeling. I did however read all the good advice on SGL about what to buy (a manual Dob it seemed) and consequently bought a small goto Mak 🤣 A couple of thoughts about the generally excellent article. It's good advice generally, but as ever one size doesn't fit all. I think starting out by buying a telescope when I didn't have much money was the right thing to do, for me, at that time. The wind of change was blowing and jumping in feet first suited the moment. The slowly-slowly approach suggested by Sky and Telescope would have been nullifying torture, and would have killed my interest for another 20 years. I am also a bit doubtful about the advice to start with binoculars. Binoculars are a bit like marmite, and I am one of the many that just don't get on with them. The only binocular viewing I really enjoy is with my own unaided eyes. It's also OK to make mistakes, at least if you are not spending a lot of money. Far better to make a mistake (let's call mistakes "partial succeses") than to stew in indecision, or to spend a couple of years plodding through The Right Way to Do Things. The Mak was a great little scope but it was my main/only scope for nearly ten years, which was too long by far! But while I was stuck with it for too long, I was also challenged to think about how I wanted to develop my involvement in the hobby. So all good in the end! I suppose if I can sum up my gut reaction to the article it would be to play the devil and say "Lighten up and buy stuff (but don't spend a lot of money)" 😀 Other top tip: Join SGL!

According to Teleskop-Service they are optically identical.

Cor Caroli is a particular favorite of mine. I struggle to see colors in doubles but Delta Cephei always stands out. The Double Double's Double is fun in a larger scope. Alpha Centauri was my first double and will always be the "most special". In my signature, there is a link to download my PDF of northern doubles, it has 300 doubles with a finder chart for each.

Six bands on Jupiter! What scope were you using @IB20?

The SLVs also have 20mm eye relief, not to mention deep twist up eyecups that help shield out local light sources.

The same reason why I have a C6 - it is the largest aperture small scope, meaning I have floater free views at around 125 magnification. Another point related to exit pupil and planets, is that larger exit pupils mean a brighter image which means stronger color.

I have the 6.7 mm and it is a very nice eyepiece. I find it good for planetary and DSO viewing.

I have a contrary opinion on the Hyperion 24. It was my favorite eyepiece in an F13 Mak, but I was frankly horrified when I changed to an F5 Newt. The correction to the edges was simply unacceptable to me. I replaced it with an Explore Scientific 24mm with the same field of view than performed perfectly in the Newt.

It depends on your eyes. Small exit pupils (less than 1 mm) cause the muck floating in your eye to become visible. For me, these floaters mean there is no point going below an exit pupil on 1mm as they completely obscure all planetary detail, but other people just don't seem to have many floaters. For DSOs, I find the ideal exit pupil depends on the target and the light pollution. Planetary nebulae and globular clusters improve with more magnification in my experience, but open star clusters need lower magnification to get the framing right. Faint nebulae might need a large exit pupil (5 mm or more) combined with an Oiii or UHC filter to tease out their structures.

Welcome to the forum!

I have owned several 102 mm Maksutovs over the years, and I have had good results with various 9 mm eyepieces, but it takes patience waiting for clear moments and on most nights I had a more enjoyable view with a 13, 16 or 17 mm eyepiece. Keep the 8 mm, it can be used sometimes, on very good nights with steady seeing. It will also be very useful for splitting certain double stars.

I've been clouded out... I have seen a few new targets with the ZS66 recently, and I am itching to try them again with my C6.

I bought my C6 based on weight alone. It is simply the lightest 6" telescope for any money. I did get it new for £499 which seemed a relatively good price at the time. Currently €940 on European retailers!

Interesting video!

Looking forward to getting mine! Your NLV 10 looks brand new 😀

First time I have seen a prehistorical creature used for scale!

It's very unusual and striking. If I can describe it as half a binocular attached to a can of tuna, what does the can of tuna do? How do you focus? Is there backfocus for a diagonal, or is it exclusively for straight-through viewing?

An inspiring build! Very well done indeed 😀 I particularly like the creative use of ASTRO-turf!